He was a spy, soldier, Patriot, and the first president of the United States. You see him everywhere- statues, one dollar bills, advertisements, Mt. Rushmore, and more. The one place he rarely appears is on the New York Times Bestsellers List, but there he can be found, and has been found, for the last seven weeks.
George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4674632~S50 by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger has become a New York Times Bestseller. The book focuses on Washington’s creation of a spy ring that helped to defeat the British during the Revolutionary War. Washington himself had served as a spy during the French and Indian War, and he knew how important spying could be. The Revolutionary War was a new kind of war- one that did not put the army of a king against another king’s army. It was a war that would not be confined to the battlefield.
With New York City under British control, George Washington needed a way to get information. He had first selected Nathan Hale to become his spymaster, but Hale was captured by the British and executed.
Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Hale’s tragic death illustrated that spying could not be a one man operation- a network of operatives was necessary. Long Island was strategically significant. It was close to New York City and just across the Sound from Connecticut. Washington was able to recruit Major Benjamin Tallmadge of Setauket. Tallmadge recruited fellow Setauket resident Abraham Woodhull as the man on the ground. Woodhull would recruit Caleb Brewster who worked as a longshoreman and Austin Roe, innkeeper of Roe’s Tavern. The plan was Woodhull would work from the City, Roe would get the information, leave it for Brewster as a “dead drop” and Brewster would take it to Connecticut to Tallmadge.
Added to them would be Robert Townsend, son of a well-to-do family from Oyster Bay. Townsend had been a Commissary supplying the American troops, but the British conquest of New York ended his military service. Townsend, once again a merchant, ran his dry goods shop in lower Manhattan. Townsend’s business put him in a unique position as hew as in close proximity to the British. The final addition to the Secret Six was a spy, known only as 355. She (355 was a lady) who was believed to have been of high enough birth to mingle in high society parties, but any other details are lost to history.
Find out what's happening in Port Jeffersonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Thus was formed the Culper Spy Ring, named for aliases used by Woodhull (Culper Sr) and Townsend (Culper Jr) in their dispatches. It was this group of six people from all walks of life, who risked their own lives to help thwart the British. Agent 355 is believed to have been captured and most likely imprisoned on one of the floating prison “death ships”. The others would survive the war, but would not discuss their service.
The Culper Ring is a subject in letters written by George Washington. Two letters of the correspondence are in the collection of the Melville Library at SUNY Stony Brook. PDFs of the actual letters can be seen online here:
and
Want to know more about the painting that is the illustration for this article? It is Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, 1851. This massive and newly restored work can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art American Wing http://www.metmuseum.org/
George Washington has been and continues to be a popular subject of biographies. For more about the First President check out these works:
The Real George Washington
http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4142796~S50
The Painter’s Chair: George Washington and the Making of American Art
http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4105469~S50
His Excellency: George Washington http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b3584803~S50
George Washington: A Biography in His Own Words
http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b1157900~S50
Washington: A Life http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/record=b4280452~S50
As always if you need help finding works about George Washington or any other President please go to the Reference Desk for assistance. The librarian on duty will be happy to help.
